Eragon (movie)
Eragon was a 2006 motion picture loosely based upon Eragon, the first book of the Inheritance cycle. Eragon was directed by Stefen Fangmeier, who has worked on many critically-acclaimed films such as The Bourne Identity, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and Galaxy Quest. Eragon combines a number of recognizable actors, such as Jeremy Irons and Djimon Hounsou, with relatively unknowns. Christopher Paolini originally asked for a small role in the film; according to rumor, he was supposed to be a Varden soldier who is beheaded during the Battle under Farthen Dûr. The timing of his European book tour created a conflict, however, and he was unable to fulfill his wish. The release of the movie was accompanied by the release of a video-game. The movie was released to DVD and Blu-ray March 20, 2007. Trailer The official trailer for the film was originally rumored to have been attached to X-Men: The Last Stand, released on May 26, 2006; later, however, execs announced that the release date for the trailer would be pushed back, due to unfinished special effects work. After multiple delays, the trailer was finally released September 15, 2006 with Gridiron Gang, a film by Columbia Pictures. The trailer can be viewed online at Moviefone. An international trailer was also released and can be viewed by following this link An unofficial trailer was accidentally leaked on the internet late in 2005. Several other trailers have been released. A complete list can be found at Shur'tugal. Posters A total of eleven Eragon posters have been released to date. They are below, in chronological order. Eragon Poster 1.jpg|First Eragon poster released. Eragon Poster 2.jpg|The second Eragon poster. Eragon Poster 3.jpg|A congratulations one-sheet to Christopher Paolini. Eragon Poster 4.jpg|The fourth Eragon poster. It features a revamp of the second poster. Eragon Poster 5.jpg|The first poster with a shot of the cast. Eragon Poster 6.jpg|The sixth Eragon poster. It features a shot of the cast, as well as Saphira. Eragon Poster 7.jpg|The seventh Eragon poster, bearing a resemblance to the cover of the book, Also showing Saphira's first close-up. Eragon Poster 8.jpg|The eighth Eragon poster released, featuring Eragon, Brom, Arya, Durza, Galbatorix, and Saphira. Eragon Poster 9.jpg|The ninth poster. Shows the characters around Zar'roc. Eragon Poster 10.jpg|The 'Riders Wanted' poster. poster.jpg|The eleventh poster, featuring Eragon standing in front of Saphira with Zar'roc. Rating Eragon was rated PG (for "fantasy violence, intense battle sequences, and some frightening images") by the MPAA.Official movie site It was also rated PG by its British equivalent, the BBFC. The Australian OFLC rated it an M, the OFLC version of a PG-13 for Moderate Fantasy Violence. It actually contains very little blood. Reception Fans Many fans have expressed anger at both the movie and Stefen Fangmeier for cutting out too many important characters, places, and events. Most fans of the novel have pointed out that nearly none of the characters in the film fit their descriptions at all in the book (except possibly Murtagh and Nasuada - and even Katrina, the Twins, & Elva in the deleted scenes.) A lot have blamed the film for making some changes that will hinder the possible production of a sequel. For example, Roran leaves Palancar Valley just because he doesn't want to be drafted into the army, rather than to earn money to start his own family with Katrina (who did not appear in the film). They also made Brom hunt down and kill the Ra'zac, who are crucial to Eldest and the start of Brisingr. Also, they made Arya the princess of Ellesméra, but not an elf. Elves inhabiting Ellesméra are crucial to Eldest. In addition, Jeod, Helen, Orik, Elva, and Solembum, who did not appear in the movie, feature prominently in the next books. Arguably the largest continuity problem for a sequel is the fact that Eragon's back is not scarred by Durza in the film, which is a major obstacle and plot point through most of Eldest. In the movie, they do not mention the other two dragon eggs still in existence (therefore Murtagh cannot become the rider of Thorn), and the Twins (who are important characters in the books) are not seen outside of a deleted scene. As another example, fans criticized the storyline involving the Ra'zac, as they are depicted in the movie as magical beings created by Durza's black magic, yet in the books are actual biological creatures with a thoroughly different appearance than the insect-infested, mummy-like Ra'zac of the film. Others thought the creature effects for Saphira, while very good, made her too slim instead of the muscular build that is freguently mentioned and also gave her an un-draconic look with feathery wings instead of the bat-like ones she and other dragons had in the book. Additionally, Galbatorix's dragon Shruikan (seen at the end scene of the film) is portrayed as being not much larger than Saphira, whereas in the book he is depicted as an enormous dragon with spikes as thick as the trunks of trees. Also, Arya never breaks Isidar Mirithim, which becomes crucial in Brisingr as Saphira must repair it and so on. Though there are ways that these can be resolved: - Katrina was on the deleted sceens and could be reintroduced as havign met up with Roran during his travels - There are tons of Ra'zac, just because Brom killed them does not mean that they are "extinct" - Arya may look more human, but still could be implied to be an elf and could be easily explained - All missing characters could be easily reintroduced, as they did so with the Harry Potter films (esp. Deathly Hallows: Part 1 with Bill and Mundungus) - The details could be reintroduced too, as in other adpations, such as the Harry Potter series, details about the Horcruxes were left out of Half Blood Prince, and being reintroduced in Deathly Hallows Part 2 - The repairing is not essential and could be relocated to the ambush at the beginning of Eldest. - Shruikan's size should not matter - The Ra'zac being "magical beings could be brought back by more sorcerors Critics Most critical reviews have bashed the film; Eragon got a "Tomatometer" rating of only 16%http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eragon/ and a Metacritic rating of 39%,http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/eragon?part=rss and listed as the 10th worst film of 2006. According to rottentomatoes.com, the critical consensus is "Eragon presents nothing new to the "hero’s journey" story archetype. In movie terms, this movie looks and sounds like Lord of the Rings and plays out like a bad Star Wars rip-off."http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eragon/about.php The film did, however, get some good or lukewarm reviews. Claudia Puig of USA Today '' called it a "moderately diverting escapism that will appeal to fans of the fantasy genre".http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2006-12-14-eragon-review_x.htm ''Tribune film critic Michael Philipps gave it two and a half out of four stars and called it "cheesy, but sincere cheese" and heavily praised Jeremy Irons in his role as Brom. Michael A. Smith of crazedfanboy.com gave it three out of four stars, saying the film "is a fun film that is certain to join the ranks of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings in the world of fantasy films."http://www.crazedfanboy.com/npcr06/moviereviewpcr351.shtml Quotes from critics The author Christopher Paolini has stated that he enjoyed the film. In an open interviewwww.randombuzzers.com, "Christopher Paolini's November 2010 Q&A", retrieved August 10, 2011 held with a fan community in September 2008, he stated that if there were to be another movie, he would be as involved as possible in the process. He further responded that the movie reflected the film-makers' version of the story, whilst the books reflect his version of the story; he was pleased his book was adapted into a movie, given that few books ever are. Furthermore, the movie introduced many new readers to the series. Paolini also stated that "you have to make peace with the nature of the process when signing on the dotted line." Differences between the book and movie There are many differences between the book and the film, in which many fans of the books have complained about (one fan cried in a cinema because of it). Some of these are summarized in the following table: Appearance and background of characters Eragon Saphira Arya Brom Murtagh Durza Galbatorix Other characters Objects and places Zar'roc Miscellaneous Plot Eragon raising Saphira Carvahall Eragon and Brom traveling Rescuing Arya Eragon, Arya and Murtagh traveling Farthen Dûr Other differences * On two movie posters, Saphira is featured with bat-like membrane wings, but the movie features her with feathers. * The movie takes place over a much shorter time than the book. It is had been mentioned in several different sections that the film took place of about three days, while the story in the novel takes place over months. Also, a quote by Arya ("Yesterday, you were a farm boy. Today, you are a hero."), is very misleading as to the fact we could almost believe her. She says "yesterday" and "today" as figures of speech, not actual time periods. * In the movie, Durza unmitigatedly delves into Arya's mind and somehow finds out that the dragon egg has hatched for Eragon, and seemingly knows where he lives (which hardly makes any sense in how he could do that). In the book, Durza is totally clueless as to the whereabouts of Eragon and Saphira; not until they near Gil'ead and Eragon is imprisoned there. * In the book, Eragon is motivated to fight the Urgals because they hurt people. In the movie, he does so only to prove his strength. * In the novel, the story ends with Eragon receiving a scar from the battle with Durza and then promising to go to Ellesméra to resume his training with Oromis the elf. But in the movie, Eragon sure receives a back wound from fighting Durza, but it's never mentioned after the battle, not do they ever mention the fact that he needs further training, and it all ends with Eragon and Arya going their own ways, and Galbatorix unleashes his black dragon, Shruikan. * At the end of the film, Galbatorix unleashed Shruikan to go and attack Eragon. But that was never known to have happened in the first book; he fights Eragon and Saphira in Inheritance , ''the fourth book of the Inheritance cycle. * In the movie, it is said that if a dragon dies, the Rider is unaffected; if the Rider dies, so does the dragon. In the books, this is not true, as while the living partner is sent nearly insane by the severing of that connection, it can be (and has been) overcome. This is demonstrated by Glaedr in the series, and mentioned that others who survived this loss served with distinction in the past. * Not only has the movie included many inconsistencies to the book, but the film's own plot is something to talk about: http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Eragon.aspx Cast Leading roles Hungarian hired actors * Ágnes Bánfalvy - Old Woman, Mother/Greta * Máté Haumann * Matt Devere * Richard Rifkin * Michael Mehlman * Tamás Deák * Pál Makrai Crew (Jeremy Irons) gives Eragon (Edward Speleers) a sword]] '''Directed by' Stefen Fangmeier Writing credits ''(in alphabetical order)'' Christopher Paolini, novel Peter Buchman, screenplay Lawrence Konner Mark Rosenthal Produced by John Davis Wyck Godfrey Original Music by Patrick Doyle Casting by Mindy Marin Costume Design by Kym Barrett Carlo Poggioli Production Management Gergö Balika, unit manager Ravi Dube, unit manager Vaclav Mottl, unit manager: Slovakia Peter Seres, production manager: pre-production Second Unit Director or Assistant Director James Chasey, third assistant director Bogi Móricz, second assistant director Art Department David J. Aldred, storyboard artist Tracey Wilson, storyboard artist Patrick Tatopoulos, dragon concept artist Special Effects by Kinga Baranyai, special effects buyer Herbert Blank, special effects senior technician Visual Effects by Natalie Lovatt, visual effects assistant coordinator Glenn Marsh, visual effects modeler Scott McGinley, previsualization artist Karen M. Murphy, visual effects Other crew Csaba Bagossy, production assistant Giovanni Casalnuovo, assistant costume designer Mel Churcher, acting coach Geoff Freeman, unit publicist Tamás Kertész, extras casting Billy Merrell, truck driver Steve Mortimore, unit location manager Emoke Vagasi, assistant: Stefen Fangmeier References External links * Official movie website * Eragon at the Internet Movie Database * Alagaesia.com, the official book site * Shurtugal.com - Fan site USA * Shadeslayer.com - Fan site USA * Eragons.com - Fan site Spain * Saphira.pl - Fan site Poland * Eragon.atw.hu - Fan site Hungary * Eragon Italia - Fan site Italy de:Eragon – Das Vermächtnis der Drachenreiter (Film) es:Eragon (película) fi:Eragon (elokuva) nl:Eragon (film) pl:Eragon (film) ru:Эрагон (фильм) Category:Films